


Under the Starlight or Under the Mountain

by delicateclarity



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicateclarity/pseuds/delicateclarity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Battle of Five Armies, Tauriel finds Kili, and they talk about their future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Starlight or Under the Mountain

**Author's Note:**

> The AU says everybody lives, but that's not quite true. Fili and Kili survive the battle, but Thorin still does not. Sorry Thorin. Reblog on tumblr [here.](http://elberethgithoniel.tumblr.com/post/72711624808/kiliel-ficlet-under-the-starlight-or-under-the)

The battle had been long, and terrifying. Tauriel had never seen so much death as she did that day, had never come close to losing a battle before.

Somehow, despite all that, she had lived. Then, she searched for Kili.

She wandered through the encampment, passing bodies and grieving members of different races along the way.

Tauriel found Kili with the body of Thorin, speaking softly with his brother. The rune-stone from his mother was in his hands, and he was absentmindedly playing with it, rolling it between his fingers.

Tauriel smiled, though he had not seen her, and wiped at her forehead. She was covered in grime and gore, and she was exhausted, but she had not been able to rest until she learned of Kili’s fate.

She wanted to go talk to him - but she would not be welcomed at the deathbed of a king of Dwarves. She took a seat on a boulder and breathed deeply, reflecting on the events of recent days.

The sun was setting. Soon the chill of night would set in, and come morning, it would be time to regroup, to begin clearing out the death and destruction of the battle. She wondered what she would have done if the dwarves and the elves had battled, but that train of thought was interrupted by a voice.

“Thinking about me?” Kili asked, managing to smile at her. His face was wan, and still full of grief, but he seemed relieved to see her nonetheless.

He took a seat next to her, and they were there in silence for awhile before Tauriel murmured “Hiro hîdh nen gurth te.”

When Kili looked up to her face, her eyes were distant, fixed on where Thorin lay.

Most Dwarves would be annoyed at an elf speaking Elvish, knowing a dwarf would not understand. Kili had felt that way in Rivendell, but there, with Tauriel, he just felt intrigued.

“What did you say?” he asked. She didn’t speak for another minute.

“It is a farewell, a blessing. It means, ‘may he find peace in death.’”

Kili’s eyes stung.

“Thorin Oakenshield was a good king, whatever happened in the mountain.”

“And you are a good woman,” Kili said in return. He hesitated, wavering for a moment, before reaching down and gently taking her hand. His hand fit in hers well, and he could feel callouses on her palm and fingers, could feel her strength.

“Fili will be king under the mountain, now,” Kili said, staring off at his brother, who was still sitting next to their uncle.

“And what will you do?” Tauriel asked, looking away from their linked hands to Kili’s face, lingering at the cut above his eyebrow. She wondered what other wounds he had received, what she could not protect him from.

“I will be with you, if you will have me. I will be with you under the starlight,” he answered softly.

“I thought starlight was distant and cold?” she asked, tilting her neck back to look at the stars winking into the sky as night began to fall.

He looked up, too, and smiled. “It does not seem so cold, or so distant when I am with you, though its brilliance pales in comparison to yours.”

Kili turned his face to hers, and she met his eyes.

“I will be with you, Kili,” Tauriel said, “whether it be under the starlight or under the mountain.”

With her free hand, she pushed hair from his face behind his ear, and smiled at him.

There would be time for all things later, but for that moment, they were content to be together under the starlight.


End file.
